The sad part to this is probably the fact that people will still continue to crave for the new iThings even after reading these stories, which will put more pressure on Apple's suppliers.

Perhaps not only Apple, but other companies force this upon their suppliers as well, but I can't help but wish Apple can offer their suppliers a bit more breathing room.

It's especially bad considering the "apple tax" everyone has to pay for the same amount of technology in an apple product vs the competition.

They spend tons on advertising, make a killing in profit off of their mediocre electronics, and pay nothing to build em. All while pretending their shit doesn't stink and they're the angels of the tech industry that invented everything with a circuit board in it.

Sounds ethical to me

I despise this company. It pains me to see them do so well. Their almost religious like following of uninformed customers just grinds me. I'm the crazy one for saying the alternatives are better and cheaper.

Each time this is always made out to be 99% Apple's fault by the writer except for a tiny little snippet.

Quote:

Apple is not the only electronics company doing business within a troubling supply system. Bleak working conditions have been documented at factories manufacturing products for Dell, Hewlett-Packard, I.B.M., Lenovo, Motorola, Nokia, Sony, Toshiba and others.

This is 100% the fault of Foxconn and shit-ass laws in China. Sure, you can argue that we need to go over there and try to impose all sorts of laws but at the end of the day China does what China wants. (also, how can you, as USA/CAN/EU/whatever gov, say that factories owned and operated by Chinese companies have to be a certain way?)

You can argue that wee need to be manufacturing these things here in North America, and that might be great but at the end of the day few large companies are willing to do that.

You can argue that governments should put in place some laws to force local manufacturing but at the end of the day the governments are puppets and will never do such a thing.

Outside companies are abusing the situation, yes, but that is what happens when you have an out of control capitalist society where the masses are brainwashed to constantly consume. Apple or no Apple. You would have to be on some pretty potent crack to believe that nasty shit does not happen in other Foxconn factories.

OMG! I have a foxconn SCSI cable! I am enabling evil!

*Edit
I do need to clarify that Apple is not innocent, but nor is Foxconn or any other OEM or company producing these things.

The thing is , I'm not blaming Apple for letting workers have these conditions. I'm from a country that have conditions more or less the same as China, and with a dense population, finding a job like that is relatively better than working in a rice farm. I would even say that half if not most of Foxconn workers are actually happy to work there.

I am however blaming Apple for putting so much pressure on their suppliers. Of course, other companies do it too, perhaps putting even more pressure into their suppliers, but I believe if any company that has the ability to loosen up the pressure a bit, it's gonna be Apple. And in this day and age, showing a bit of goodwill can go a long way, who knows, it might even be the best iMarketing ever.

As a consumer, I like Apple, I like iThings. No matter how much evil they are, one has to admit that they do get what consumers want. In fact, whether I like or hate Apple doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

It's pretty hard to buy anything that's 100% made in one place. Apple isn't the only manufacturer that squeeze their suppliers, the auto industry is another example. Look at the Toyoto Corolla, in their ad they highlight the fact that a 2011 cost less than a 1990 or some year. How is this possible you ask? They squeeze suppliers and labors and make it out of cheaper materials. Hell even that transmission inside the new Ford Mustang is made in China using a Ford / Getreg JV.